


Meltdown

by agentofserenity



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Autistic Bobbi Morse, F/M, Meltdown, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:05:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentofserenity/pseuds/agentofserenity
Summary: Bobbi gets overwhelmed which leads to a meltdown and her friends are trying to help. Between them, they got this and Bobbi feels lucky to have them all. Huntingbird and Mack/Bobbi friendship with a side of Mama May.





	Meltdown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [buckysbears (DrZebra)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrZebra/gifts), [AchillesMonkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AchillesMonkey/gifts).



Bobbi just ran. She kept running and running, wanting to get away. The burning pain in her bad knee kept growing, until it became like her knee was made of fire. Thankfully it was a fairly quiet corridor and she had somehow ended up by her dorm. Maybe it was just on instinct or by memory that had brought her there specifically but she was grateful for it. Her hands fumbled with the lock, glad once she was inside. Her knee was still so incredibly painful she could barely make it over to the bed before collapsing, feeling a sob rising through her chest at the pain both emotionally and physically. 

The door was still wide open as she cried into the pillow, her body splayed out on the bed and she heard footsteps by the door. They entered the room and she heard a voice, steady and soft next to her.

“Hey, what do you need?” Mack asked, getting her permission before he sat down on the bed next to her. She quickly rearranged herself so she was close to him, pressing her face against his chest a small whine of pain left her lips.

“It’s okay. I’m here” she heard him say and somehow that was the last thing to fully break down her defences and she sobbed into his chest. Mack watched his friend carefully as she cried, he had held her before as he knew that sometimes when she was struggling the feeling of someone’s arms around her and being able to hear their heartbeat would soothe her. He had been filled in on what happened from May - by the sounds of things during an informal meeting they were having Bobbi had gotten completely overwhelmed and bolting was one of her coping methods. The man was just glad she had only gone to her dorm rather than actually leaving the building or hiding in a corridor. He wanted to be there for her, they all did.

Eventually her cries slowed down and Mack gently lifted her face away from his chest so he could see her. “Hey, wanna talk about it?” He offered, but as he suspected she shook her head. She started to grind her teeth, he noticed that she seemed to be worked up but he didn’t know what to do, having not seen this particular behaviour before Mack didn’t know what she needed.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself like that. Tell me what you need” Mack tried to keep his sentences short and to the point, looking lost when silent tears fell from Bobbi’s eyes. It looked like she was trying to communicate with him, opening her mouth and trying to form words but no sound was coming out, her face contorting into an expression of frustration. She was desperately trying to tell him that she needed to chew on one of her safe stim toys and she needed to sit by herself for a bit but it just wouldn’t come out. She tried a basic sign for help but Mack still looked puzzled, having not learnt any sign language. She let out of a tiny quiet squeak of frustration and pushed herself up, hitting her head repeatedly against the wall in sheer frustration at her inability to speak, it wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism but as she went into a meltdown especially with her lasting frustration over going non verbal it pushed her into that behaviour as a last ditch attempt of coping somewhat. 

She lashed out at Mack when he tried to stop her, in the heat of the moment and full of concern for his friend he had forgotten that touch would just overwhelm her further. Thankfully, Hunter turned up with May close behind him. Mack looked over to them with worry clear on his face.

“I haven’t seen her like this before, I don’t know what to do. I’m worried that she’s going to hurt herself or she already has, but by trying to move her from the wall I think I just made it worse” Mack admitted to them, the two other agents exchanged a look and May then carefully approached Bobbi.

May pulled out the girls spare comfort blanket from where she knew it was kept in her bedside drawer and just held it in her hand, then gently said the girls name a few times so she would know she was there, trying to draw her attention. 

“Hey, I have your blanket for you, and Hunter is here now too” May told her, a small smile when the girl turned her head to face her. The older agent offered over the blanket but stayed a comfortable distance away so that Bobbi would feel safe but know that she was here to help.

Bobbi seemed hesitant at first but then grabbed onto the blanket anyway, relishing in its comfort but still soft whimpers escaped as she tried to process what had happened. Thankfully, May had learned some sign language and Bobbi had learnt it in her spare time as languages had become a special interest at one point so she had taught herself many different ones including ASL as it fascinated her how a language could be entirely non verbal and she knew it might come in handy someday. With the knowledge between them Bobbi was able to tell May that she had a meltdown and had become non verbal which frustrated her as she couldn’t tell Mack that she no longer wanted him to hold her and that she wanted her chew toy. 

May retrieved her chew necklace and helped her get settled on the bed to be more comfortable before going over to the boys.

“May, please help me explain. Sounds like she got overwhelmed and we’ve been showing her other safer ways to let out her frustration but when she’s in a meltdown I know she doesn’t always have control over it” Hunter said and May nodded, turning to Mack.

“We have been showing her, and I don’t believe her to be trying to hurt herself on purpose. From what I’ve seen it’s caused by her meltdown sometimes and the best thing to do is to try guide her away from any self injurious behaviour with a safer alternative like a chew toy or her blanket”

“It’s just...hard to see her hurting herself” Mack sighed, running a hand over his head, clearly feeling a bit embarrassed about the whole situation.

“It’s good you care about her mate, and I get that it’s hard to watch but remember she’s not some caged crazed bloody animal. She’s Bobbi, and sometimes she gets overwhelmed but we work through it together, with her” Hunter said, glancing over at his ex-wife/ current girlfriend sat on the bed gently rocking herself but seeming a little calmer now. He waited a moment for her rocking to ease off and for her to look up then made the sign for “Are you feeling any better?” To which she replied “A little” and he added “I love you” which made her smile weakly.

Mack approached her with May, and asked permission to take her hand but she shook her head, still not up to physical contact right now at least with anyone but Hunter as he felt comforting and safe and familiar which she craved right now. Her eyes looked around for him and Hunter appeared next to her, taking her hand instead she felt calmer now she had a connection to him.

“I’m sorry I upset you, I didn’t know how to help and I should’ve just gotten the others sooner. I want to be there for you, I care about you” Mack told her and she gave him a small smile.

“Thanks. I didn’t expect you to know, but I was angry at myself for not being able to communicate. It happens with a meltdown, and if it does I have to try find another way to communicate. But I appreciate you wanting to help, and holding me did help at first.” Bobbi said with a nod “Maybe we can come up with some sort of signal for if that happens again” She used a burst of strength to get up and give him a quick hug before retreating back to the bed and lying her head on Hunters shoulder.

“We should finish up the paperwork from the meeting, you two take the rest of the evening off and look after each other” May said with an air of authority, knowing Bobbi would want to just jump straight back into work but she also knew that the girl needed time to recover after a meltdown and that often even if she did want a break she felt like she couldn’t do so unless she was told that it was okay. They all exchanged smiles and nods before May and Mack left the room. Bobbi was now chewing lightly on the galaxy themed pendant, she stopped a moment to hold out the lanyard it was on and Hunter helped her put it on. She sat and chewed on it quietly a moment and patted him on the shoulder, signing “I love you” back from earlier and leaning against him again, content to listen to his heart for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta readers meniorned above for helping me with this work! If you have any other prompts for my autistic fics series you’d like to see then please do let me know!


End file.
